LEXINGTON, Ky — The Kentucky Wildcats have officially turned in the first undefeated regular season in a power conference since the 1976 Indiana Hoosiers. The Florida Gators just so happened to be the team that stood opposed to the Cats, who were not going to be denied on this historical evening. 

Senior night festivities have become very sparing in Rupp Arena since John Calipari took over at the helm in 2009. Tonight, three walk-ons had their senior night in front of 24,000 strong. Tod Lanter, Sam Malone, and Brian Long all received the starting lineup call today, which was something that was highly-debated before the game. They were in for one offensive trip and a quick foul and then exited to the roar of the Big Blue faithful. 

UK has been the talk of all basketball for most of the season, but tonight was possibly the highest level of spotlight that has been on the Wildcat program in its history. As the fifth-youngest team in all of basketball, the Wildcats never are shaken from their calm presence, and a majority of the time, they look unbeatable. 

Tonight, in the first half, the Gators (15-16, 8-10, SEC) did their best to stay in the game behind great transition scoring and Kasey Hill. Hill, who finished with 15 points and showed signs of what was expected of the PG coming out of high school. 

Going into halftime, UK led 30-27, which had to be deflating for UF because of their higher level of play. Kentucky did what it has done all season when it comes hyped for the big games and floats through all the rest. 

In the second half, Kentucky (31-0, 18-0, SEC) continued plowing through the game with its head down until they went on a 7-0 run with about 10 minutes to go. At that point, the constant body blows by the Cats were showing to take effect on the Gators. UK slowly pulled away to finish the game 67-50.

Trey Lyles led the Wildcats in scoring with 14 points, followed by Karl Anthony-Towns, who add 13 of his own. Towns not only was able to score tonight, but he also had nine rebound and six blocks, showing that he is a legitimate contender to go #1 in the NBA draft this summer. 

Following the game, the UK players donned t-shirts that read, “31-0 not done yet.” One thing that we can know for sure, this team will forever be talked about in Kentucky folklore. 

UP NEXT 

UK: SEC Tournament

UF: SEC Tournament